Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
Happy Halloween ladies! It's November, the season is half over, so the games are even bigger than ever. Weather starts to factor into decisions, and second-guessing is ever more prevalent. But six teams are on byes, so sometimes you're not starting players you want to start but ones who are all you've got -- Lorenzo Taliaferro, anyone? Let's get right to the games.
Jaguars at Bengals: Cincinnati's defense hasn't been quite as good this year, so I think Denard Robinson should be OK. Otherwise, I'm not optimistic about Jacksonville's offense -- just hope they rein Blake Bortles in somewhat, unless you're starting the Bengals defense. Giovani Bernard is out, so you can definitely use Jeremy Hill, who should be a full-time guy. A.J. Green is expected to play, and though I prefer to err on the side of caution with injured players, sounds like he's fine, and Ian ranks him as though he'll be in his usual capacity. Five people left in my suicide pool, two of whom picked the Bengals (I already used them so can't).
Buccaneers at Browns: Bobby Rainey should be very good here, unless the Bucs give Charles Sims, expected to be activated off IR, a large role. I am thinking small role for Sims and leading role for Rainey, facing his former team by the way. Rainey's last leading role chance, of course, he fumbled twice against Atlanta, but presumably he'll be a nice choice. I would be using him if I hadn't cut him a few weeks back. Browns don't have Jordan Cameron, and the Bucs are horrible against the pass, so you can use Andrew Hawkins. Ben Tate, too, though Tampa plays the run well at times.
Cardinals at Cowboys: Surely the Cardinals will drop a close game along the way somewhere, right? Maybe here, although I'd feel better about Dallas' chances if they had Tony Romo, and it sounds like they won't. Or else he'll be playing hurt, like he was in the second half against Washington, nice choice Garrett. Probably Brandon Weeden. I like the Dallas passing game. I wouldn't bench DeMarco Murray, but Arizona very tough against the run. Cardinals offense should be fine.
Eagles at Texans: Any noteworthy injuries here? I don't think so. Both offenses should be fine in a nice, high-scoring contest. Arian, Andre, LeSean, etc. My son went out for Halloween as Zombie Nick Foles, which required me to buy a Nick Foles jersey....really not sure why he picked Foles, but there you go. Foles does move like a zombie at times.
Jets at Kansas City: Picked up the KC defense to start everywhere for this game. Eventually the Jets will get another win, and maybe Michael Vick can magic one out of nothing. But I wouldn't count on it. Alex Smith is a nice spot start, Dwayne Bowe too. Jets good against the run but Jamaal Charles will get his yards and points somehow.
Chargers at Dolphins: Last week I benched Philip Rivers at Denver and regretted it. This week I'm benching him again at Miami. Dolphins have a tough pass rush, solid secondary, and simply don't allow a lot of touchdowns. I'm not too crazy about using Branden Oliver, either, but am doing so, in PPR anyway. These teams played a 20-16 game here last year and I'm expecting something similar.
Washington at Vikings: Robert Griffin III returns, and the matchup is OK (although Minnesota has a good pass rush and has played better defense at times than expected). I wouldn't rush to start him and don't imagine he'll run a ton, but he should be healthy enough. Washington's defense played well against the Cowboys the other night, but I imagine they'll revert to form here. Am using Jerick McKinnon and would consider Cordarrelle Patterson.
Rams at 49ers: Considered the 49ers for my suicide pool pick. St. Louis was bad anyway and now they've really been gutted by injuries, and they're on the road against a good defense. Just figured I'd avoid the division rivalry. Regardless, I can't think of a good Ram to use in this game. For San Francisco, well, their offense hasn't been terribly reliable week to week, and different receivers are involved in different games. The big names (Kaepernick, Gore, Boldin) look decent, but if their defense is shutting the Rams down, which it should, those guys might underachieve. Hard to trust Gore at all these days.
Broncos at Patriots: Game of the week, and you're probably starting just about everyone. I don't know yet if I'm giving Julian Edelman one last shot. To start him I'd need to bench either Oliver or Steve Smith. Opinions welcome. Weather (wind and rain) may be a factor here. Broncos defense is very good so I definitely wouldn't use Jonas Gray against it. But LaFell and Vereen, sure. Gronk is obvious. Brady is my choice over Rivers. Denver, Hillman and the top two wideouts look fine along with Manning. You don't need help to start some of these players.
Raiders at Seahawks: Took Seattle in the suicide pool. Don't feel great about it. Derek Carr has been pretty decent, and Seattle's defense is banged up. I just figure they won't lose, but I'm not confident they're going to shut Oakland down. Not that I have any Raiders I'd even consider starting. Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin all look fine.
Ravens at Steelers: One of these years they won't schedule the Ravens and Steelers in primetime. One of these years. Seriously, haven't we all seen this matchup enough? What crazy thing will Mike Tomlin do this year. Ravens have a great defense, but I'd be using LeVeon Bell and Antonio Brown, obviously. Feel like Steve Smith could step up here. Pittsburgh's defense not that great and I have to use Taliaferro, but maybe the Steelers will dig deep and bring the intensity this matchup always features. Probably. Justin Forsett was trading for Jimmy Graham in one of my leagues this week. Forsett's having a nice year and it's always hard to find good running backs, but really?
Colts at Giants: Sort of think the Giants will lead this game all the way but Luck will win it at the end. Win or lose, both offenses should be productive. No Rashad Jennings. Surprisingly, it sounds like Reggie Wayne will play. I wouldn't start him, but he'll apparently be out there. Giants offense, you never really know what you're going to get, but I'd rather use the passing game than Andre Williams.
Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson
